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Service Rating 4.7 from 898 reviews

Alsace Cycling Holiday

4.7
(7 reviews)

Alsace, lying between the Rhine River and the Vosges Mountains in eastern France is one of Europe’s top spots for a leisure cycling holiday. The fertile valley is a treasure trove of idyllic medieval villages, set amid a sea of vineyards and connected by a network of quiet lanes. The food, the wine and the scenery are all sublime.

The tour leads you on a gentle loop from Strasbourg, a beautiful city with an enchanting, medieval core, through some of the most beautiful Alsatian wine villages. Gourmet and wine connoisseurs will be in their element as this is a region renowned for the quality of its food and drink.

Flexitreks Cycling HolidayColmar

Only 190 kms long and 50 kms wide, Alsace is the smallest region in France but within its borders it manages to pack over a hundred enchanting villages, characterised by rows of colourfully painted, half-timbered houses and winding cobbled streets. No less than four of the villages you will visit have made it on to the list of The Most Beautiful Villages in France – Eguisheim, Riquewihr, Hunawihr and Mittelbergheim.

The cycling is leisurely and you’ll be averaging about 28 miles/ 45 kms per day. The first three days are pretty level and then as you head north along the base of the Vosges you will encounter a few hills. These are mercifully short however and you can always take a break or get off and walk for a bit. It’s worth noting we also offer electric bikes to rent on this tour.

Itinerary

Make your way to your hotel in Strasbourg and check-in. The rest of the day is yours to explore this wonderful old city. The beautifully preserved centre is perfect for exploring on foot and must-sees include the imposing Notre Dame Cathedral with its intricate and mesmerising astronomical clock, the baroque style Opera House and Petite France. The latter is a picturesque area between the two rivers, crammed with half-timbered houses and narrow cobbled streets. In the evening we recommend preparing yourself for the following day’s exertions with a plate of Sauerkraut and sausages accompanied by a glass of fortifying Alsace beer.

After breakfast you mount-up and bid Strasbourg au-revoir, cycling out of town beside the Rhone-Rhine Canal. A pleasant canal-side cycle path leads you through picturesque countryside deep into the Grand Ried. The Grand Ried is a low-lying region of meadows and woodlands that were prone to flooding before the Rhine River was finally tamed and canalised. The sediment from the river created a fertile landscape, rich in flora/fauna and cycling through it is a real pleasure. Your day ends in the town of Seléstat or in one its pleasant surrounding villages.

Your journey continues south today through the Grand Ried. The level landscape and quiet lanes make for easy cycling, allowing you to relax and enjoy the rural countryside as it drifts by. Small, well-kept villages appear at regular intervals providing plenty of opportunities for coffee/food breaks. Your destination today is Colmar, the main wine town of Alsace and a beautiful place to spend the night. Along the narrow streets of the old town around the Cathedral you’ll find plenty of charming, independent cafes, bars and restaurants serving Alsatian specialities. Here you’ll also find Maison Pfister, an elaborately painted and very photogenic 16th century residence.

A relatively short day’s cycling today, but what the route lacks in distance it makes up for in scenery. You’ll cycle south on level terrain through a succession of picture perfect Alsatian wine villages set amongst extensive vineyards. There’s plenty of time to explore the narrow, winding streets of these pretty little places before making your way to the town of Guebwiller, or nearby at the foot of the Vosges Mountains.

Today you turn north and follow the wine road along the base of the Vosges Mountains. The route is undulating and probably the toughest day of the tour but the scenery is serene and peaceful so stop for a break whenever you like. There are more gorgeous Alsatian villages on the route today and Eguisheim; voted France’s Favourite Village in 2013, could well win your vote as the prettiest of them all. Wrapped around itself protectively, the colourful houses guard the maze-like streets within. You’ll also enjoy exploring the picture-perfect villages of Turckheim and Kaysersberg before stopping for the night in or near the delightful Alsatian wine village of Riquewihr.

Today you keep following the wine road north through a sublime landscape of idyllic vineyards and quaint villages. There’s a beautiful village every 2 kms or so, and the hard bit is deciding which ones to cycle straight through and which ones to stop and explore further. Our personal recommendations are Hunawihr, Andlau and Mittelbergheim. Tonight you will stay in or near the town of Obernai and as you would expect this is another beautiful old place with cobbled streets, half-timbered houses and a charming town square.

Your last day’s cycling completes the circle back to the historic city of Strasbourg. You’ll pedal along country lanes through the village of Rosheim and the town of Molsheim to the Bruche Canal. You then enjoy a very pleasant and easy ride along the canal-side cycle path back to Strasbourg. The rest of day and evening is yours to relax and enjoy this charming old city. Why not celebrate your achievement with a lovely meal in one of old town’s many fine restaurants.

After breakfast it’s time to checkout and head for home or your next adventure.

Bikes

On this tour you can choose between a regular bike or an E-bike.

Regular bike: Is an alloy framed model with 21 speeds and a comfortable, relaxed riding position, perfect for a leisure cycling holiday. Minimum height for bike is 150cm. The minimum height for a male specific bike is 165cm. The bike comes equipped with a pannier and handlebar bag. Per room a lock and repair kit are provided. 

E-BIKES: These unisex/step through electric bikes are a popular option on this route and ensure riders can enjoy the scenery along the way, whilst not working too hard at the climbs. Minimum height is 155cm. E-bikes come equipped with a pannier and handlebar bag. Per room a lock and repair kit are provided. 

Helmets are not supplied, so you will need to bring your own.

Accommodation

Below you will find examples of the types of accommodation typically used on this tour. Please note that the hotels we book for you may differ slightly from those described but they will certainly be of a similar standard.

Comfort: Good quality 3 star hotels.

Strasbourg: Grand Hotel

Sélestat Area: Vaillant Hotel

Colmar: Hotel Paul & Pia

Guebwiller: Hotel L' Ange

Riquewihr Area: La Couronne

Obernai Area: Le Gouverneur

Strasbourg: Grand Hotel

Superior: Good quality 3 and 4 star hotels.

Strasbourg: B.W. Monopole Metropole

Sélestat Area: Vaillant Hotel

Colmar: Grand Hotel Bristol

Guebwiller: Les Rives

Ribeauville Area: KLE

Obernai Area: Le Colombier

Strasbourg: B.W. Monopole Metropole

Superior Plus: Excellent 4 and 5 star hotels

Strasbourg: Régent Petite France

Sélestat Area: Auberge de l’Illwald

Colamar: Les Têtes

Guebwiller: Les Violettes

Riquewihr Area: KLE

Obernai Area: Cour d'Alsace

Local taxes

Some hotels have started to charge a local/tourist tax. These taxes are not included in the sale price of the tour and must be paid directly by you at check-in or checkout at the hotels. This fee varies and is ever changing but as a guide, you may be asked to pay between €1-€4 per person per night

Getting There

Fly to Strasbourg or Basel. There are regular, direct trains between Basel and Strasbourg, the journey time is 1 hour and 20 mins.

Research flights from the UK here

Reviews

David Guest - May, 24 May 2024
Service
5
Flexitreks talked us through the tours that might suit us. They spared no effort to make sure our trip was seamless and enjoyable.
Andy - October, 26 Oct 2024
Always a pleasure David, thanks you.
Service
5
This was our fourth experience of a Flexitreks cycling holiday and it maintained the exceptional standard we've come to expect. Perfect for our ages and abilities, the routes were a delight to follow and at the end of each day the hotels were excellent. As always, there was plenty to see along the way; short detours to particular attractions were invariably worthwhile.
Andy - October, 26 Oct 2024
Thanks David, we really do appreciate you taking the time to submit this lovely reeview
Anonymous - July, 28 Jul 2022
Service
5
Prompt arrangement of a realtiviely late booking
Service
5
Excellent bikes (I think mine was brand new). Good hotels, lovely towns and villiages. The only issue was that we were expecting to be able to eat in the Mechelin starrred resturants in the hotels were we were staying. Unfortunately they were closed on the evenings we were there and it transpired, though understandble, we would have had to book in advance. It would have been helpful if we had been aware of this. We did have perfectly good meals, and as I say rhe resturants were closed anyway, but advanced notoce of this would have lowered our expectations and avoided some disappointment. However we will know better next time!
Andy - October, 24 Oct 2022
Thanks for taking the time to submit this feedback. We take your point about the hotel restaurants and will advise future customers of the situation. We are relieved that you managed to eat well in spite of this.
Peter Darton - September, 09 Sep 2018
Service
4
all questions answered clearly and completely - yes I would recommend and buy again
Andy - February, 04 Feb 2019
Thanks Peter, your comments means a lot to us.
Service
5
great scenery - really good food and wine - some lovely old towns one problem - we booked for twin beds but hotels all has this as double - easily switched apart from one place that was full so my friend and I had to top and tail in a double.
Andy - February, 04 Feb 2019
So glad you enjoyed it Peter and very sorry to read about the bed problem. Had you contacted us about this during your trip I'm sure we could have sorted everything in a jiffy.
Kilian Dunphy - August, 22 Aug 2017
Service
5
The lady on the telephone was very helpful (Alison)
Service
5
Really enjoyed the holiday - found the hotels well chosen and friendly. Beautiful locations and well organised
Andy - September, 06 Sep 2017
The lady on the telephone appreciates your comments Killian and we're all glad you enjoyed your cycling holiday in Alsace!
Anonymous - October, 10 Oct 2016
Service
5
Excellent, all queries were dealt with swiftly.
Service
5
Very well organised and great personal service from the Operator
Andy - November, 07 Nov 2016
Many thanks for this short and sweet review!
Rena - July, 20 Jul 2016
Service
4
The agent was very informative and prompt. We had great service and information leading up to our trip.
Service
4
This region was beautiful and we enjoyed it very much. There were a few things that were a bit more difficult than we anticipated. Originally we were expecting somewhere between 3 - 5 hours of cycling a day so that would give us time to enjoy the area. In reality the cycling was closer to 6 - 8 hours a day, which was simply too much. What seemed to cause this was not the cycling itself so much but the lack of directions when we entered villages/towns and it was very difficult to get through the villages and find hotels. This always seemed to add on an hour or so of time at the beginning and end of each day. Also additional time navigating through and backtracking along the way. Also, sometimes the directions were lacking critical information or were simply wrong. Therefore, we learned by the 2nd day that we need to check our route by Google maps ourselves and map this out. The maps provided were not detailed enough in the villages. This could very simply be rectified with the information packet. I also think that perhaps some of the directions when translated to English were not checked. Additionally, there were some areas of the trip that were heavy highway traffic, which we were surprised about. I think this trip may have been a bit better starting from Colmar and going from there. The first 2 days were not overly scenic. All the accommodation was very nice, staff was always friendly and helpful. One other issue we encountered the first few days of the trip is that the restaurants at the hotels were fully booked and without a reservation we could not eat there. After a long day of cycling then having to find somewhere else to eat was sometimes not ideal. It would be handy to make folks aware of this in advance of the trip and recommend reservations to be booked in advance as part of the package.
Ally - August, 02 Aug 2016
Many thanks for the comprehensive feedback Rena. Sorry you found the route notes a little hard to follow at times. They are checked regularly and for next year we will be introducing GPX tracks which can be uploaded to smartphones and GPS devices making navigation much easier. The sections on roads with heavy traffic are kept to a minimum and only used when no other alternatives exist. Thanks for the tip about restaurant reservations, we will be sure to advise future customers in the tour documents.
Allan - June, 10 Jun 2016
Service
5
Contact was very good arranged extra night at hotel
Service
5
There are a couple of mistakes in the route notes for example page 10 at 47.9 it says turn left towards Selestat and it is a right turn also could have pointed out tha 53.6 to 54.5 was not necessary to get to our hotel. Also often the instructions quoted a street name but the street name was no where to be found at the turn. So more Green Arrows would be helpful hotels were good except in Onernai it was aliterate far from the city centre when it is raining but nice hotel ...menues for half board were too limited in choices for the class of restaurant
Andy - June, 23 Jun 2016
Thanks for the review and route note corrections Allan. The road book has already been updated and in addition, our local supplier is reviewing the route to see where green arrows may be a benefit to future riders.